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Dysregulation of protein methyltransferases in human cancer: An emerging target class for anticancer therapy.

Abstract
Protein methylation is one of the important post-translational modifications. Although its biological and physiological functions were unknown for a long time, we and others have characterized a number of protein methyltransferases, which have unveiled the critical functions of protein methylation in various cellular processes, in particular, in epigenetic regulation. In addition, it had been believed that protein methylation is an irreversible phenomenon, but through identification of a variety of protein demethylases, protein methylation is now considered to be dynamically regulated similar to protein phosphorylation. A large amount of evidence indicated that protein methylation has a pivotal role in post-translational modification of histone proteins as well as non-histone proteins and is involved in various processes of cancer development and progression. As dysregulation of this modification has been observed frequently in various types of cancer, small-molecule inhibitors targeting protein methyltransferases and demethylases have been actively developed as anticancer drugs; clinical trials for some of these drugs have already begun. In this review, we discuss the biological and physiological importance of protein methylation in human cancer, especially focusing on the significance of protein methyltransferases as emerging targets for anticancer therapy.
AuthorsRyuji Hamamoto, Yusuke Nakamura
JournalCancer science (Cancer Sci) Vol. 107 Issue 4 Pg. 377-84 (Apr 2016) ISSN: 1349-7006 [Electronic] England
PMID26751963 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
Copyright© 2016 The Authors. Cancer Science published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Cancer Association.
Chemical References
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Histones
  • Protein Methyltransferases
Topics
  • Antineoplastic Agents (therapeutic use)
  • Epigenesis, Genetic
  • Histones (genetics)
  • Humans
  • Methylation
  • Molecular Targeted Therapy
  • Neoplasms (genetics, therapy)
  • Protein Methyltransferases (genetics)
  • Protein Processing, Post-Translational

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